Moxie Gardener

Green beans are one of the most popular vegetables grown in home gardens.

Green beans are one of the oldest cultivated plants, having been cultivated for at least 6,000 years in the Americas. Green beans are native to Central and South America, unlike broad beans grown to produce dried beans, which are native to Europe and Asia.

There are over 4,000 known varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris available in seed catalogs. This includes so-called green beans as well as dried beans. “Green beans” are simply immature beans that are picked while the seeds are still small and tender. They come in green and yellow varieties in both bush or pole styles.

Bush beans grow on compact bushy plants and produce their crop over a 3 to 4 week period approximately 50 days after planting, depending on the variety. Pole beans are twining vines that grow 8 to 12 feet high and produce their crop from about 60 days after planting until the vines are killed by frost.

Plant either variety of beans in late spring after all danger of frost has passed and after the soil has warmed up to at least 65°. Some experts claim the plants will be healthier and produce more beans if you wait until the soil has warmed up to 70°. Although some gardeners start beans indoors, they grow best if the seeds are planted in the garden where they are to grow.

Beans don’t require overly rich soil as long as it is well drained. Do not plant where potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce or cabbage were grown the previous year. Move your beans to a different location in your garden every 2 to 3 years.

Plant bush beans about an inch deep, 1 to 2 inches apart in rows that are 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart. When the seedlings are 3 inches high, thin them to stand about 3 to 4 inches apart. For intensive spacing, plant them 4 to 6 inches apart in all directions.

Plant pole beans an inch deep in hills about 3 feet apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Insert a pole in the center of each hill and plant 6 to 8 seeds around it. Thin to the strongest four plants when they are three inches high.

Side dress with 10-20-10 fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks until the bush beans produce their crop. Continue fertilizing pole beans for the entire growing season. Keep them well watered; beans need to be kept evenly moist or they may drop their blossoms before the infant beans form. Mulch the soil around them to retain moisture and prevent it from drying out.

Harvest green beans before the seeds in the pod begin to swell. They should be crisp and firm and easily snap when broken in two. The “snap” is how they became known as “snap beans.” Hold the plant with one hand while picking with the other hand or you may pull off most of the plant along with the beans. Another good way to harvest them is to use a small pair of scissors and snip them off the plants.

In European folklore, planting beans on Good Friday or in the dark is considered good luck. As far as I’m concerned, any green beans that escape notice by a bunny are considered good luck.

*Green beans are the second most popular vegetable behind tomatoes.

I almost didn’t have any green beans this year, thanks to a bunny.  Last year I didn’t get any beans at all thanks to a bunny.  He dug up the seeds before they germinated and the plants never came up, despite a couple rounds of planting.

This year I outsmarted the little varmint, but not right off.  Oh no, it took me awhile.

I started out sprinkling cayenne pepper on the ground which kept him from digging up the seeds.  Then, as the leaves came up, I sprinkled cayenne pepper on them every night, which worked for awhile.  Either Mr. Rabbit developed a taste for cayenne or the wind blew it off, but one morning the new leaves were gone and little telltale teeth marks were evident on the stems.  (Incidentally, he also ate the new leaves off my tomato plants the first night after I transplanted them.  Cayenne kept Mr. Rabbit away from the tomatoes after that.)

After the cayenne pepper failed to keep Mr. Rabbit away from my beans, I knew I had to take drastic action.  A fence around the garden or fancy row covers wasn’t in the budget this year, so I had to get creative.  I pulled the bamboo tripod up and set it aside.  I grabbed some five-gallon buckets and covered each of the “hills” with a bucket at sunset and removed it early the following morning.  On the third day I noticed the new leaves were eaten again, despite being covered up all night when bunnies typically feed.

I persevered though.  Every night I put the buckets on and early every morning I removed them.  I didn’t thin the beans because I wanted as many plants as possible, in case some of them were eaten.  Some nights I would notice missing leaves, which puzzled me a little because I know bunnies are nocturnal and the plants were covered while it was dark.

Slight digression:  I have cats.  They go outside at night, but hang in the house during the day.  I generally let them in around 6:00 AM, and that’s when I would run out to the garden and remove the buckets from the beans, thinking the beans needed all the unobstructed sunlight they could get.

One morning at about eight o’clock I happened to look out the window at the garden and there was Mr. Rabbit, hopping in the garden, having his breakfast.  I had been removing the buckets too early in the morning.  Obviously because of the feline presence, the bunny had waited to have his breakfast until the cats were inside.

From that day on I waited until at least nine o’clock every morning before removing the buckets.  It was into July before the bean stalks finally got tall enough so the new leaves would be out of Mr. Rabbit’s reach once they climbed the bamboo tripod (with a little initial help from me).

I finally picked beans today, the latest I’ve ever picked my first beans of the season.  I’m happy I outsmarted a bunny though.  But when I think of all the bunnies I’ve avoided hitting with my car…